1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of appliances and, more particularly, to a lamp holder assembly which can be readily adapted for use in connection with variously configured domestic and international lighting arrangements in appliances.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In major household appliances, lighting units are often employed to illuminate select areas for improved access. For instance, lights are typically incorporated into refrigerators in order to enable select compartment zones to be lit to enhance the visibility of stored food items. Correspondingly, lighting arrangements are also found in other appliances, including clothes dryers.
In today""s marketplace, domestically manufactured appliances can be shipped all over the world. It is also known to manufacture commonly designed appliances in different regions of the world. In either case, the lighting arrangements incorporated into the various appliances must be specifically adapted to the particular electrical requirements in the region(s) where the appliances are to be sold. More particularly, there exists a fairly large range of voltage variations and lamp-type requirements between different countries which must be accounted for when producing appliances for sale.
Based on the above, it is commonplace to incorporate, in the manufacture of requisite appliances, lamp holder units which are specifically designed for the particular environment of use. Unfortunately, given the rather large range of voltage and lamp-type variations, significant incremental costs are incurred in connection with manufacturing dedicated appliances in this fashion. Based on at least these reasons, there exists a need for a lamp holder assembly which can be employed in the manufacture of an appliance to establish a substantially universal connection that will accommodate a wide range of lamp modules employed in various countries.
The present invention is directed to a lamp holder assembly which is designed to accommodate a wide range of lamps in order to establish a substantially universal, overall lighting system. That is, the lamp holder assembly of the invention directly accommodates the use of various lighting units, as well as one or more adapter bases designed for use in a multitude of international applications. More specifically, the universal lamp holder assembly of the invention can include an adapter base which, in certain preferred embodiments, incorporates snap connectors that enable latching of the adapter base to a housing or other support. In any event, a lamp holder member is snap-fittingly inserted into the adapter base and firmly maintained in place. With this arrangement, a single lamp holder member can be employed with various adapter bases or different lamp holder members can be used with common adapter bases to fit both domestic and a multitude of international hi-volt (e.g. 220-240V, 50/60 Hz) and 115 volt applications, as well as to provide requisite protection from electrical shocks.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.